Double Jeopardy
by MrsRoy
Summary: A guarantee against twice being put in jeopardy.
1. Prologue

**I don't own them. I just share.**

**Written in response to S13 premiere.**

**Hopefully something different with a little EO rolled in for good measure.**

**Enjoy and please review.**

* * *

><p>Olivia found that she'd actually been quite capable of sitting comfortably while she absently observed her Captain's lips manoeuvre around his speech sounds. Each syllable provoked a fantasy within her memory as this brave man's discourse reverberated amidst the chaos of a troubled mind.<p>

_Standing down. Relieved of duty. _His final decision.

She remembered that day, the weather had been kind, the kind of climate one might expect in the city of New York.

Elliot had laughed at her joke, the one about the sanctimonious Irish cop. Some rubbish she'd had stashed under her belt for a while. Given their history, the sentiment seemed necessary.

The ceiling had cast shadows that faded despite the light of the world and she'd watched as he gripped his service revolver firmly in the palm of his hand, his face had been seamless, not marred by dust, not by blood, nor sweat. His finger had not faltered as it rested abreast the trigger like a tortured soul, the grief swollen within.

The lead ripped past her face, each round a little closer than the next, though none had been etched with her name.

She'd prayed that day, prayed to God, her supposed Lord Saviour to spare her life for the sake of her son, her baby, even at twenty five years and six odd feet.

Maternal instincts had kicked in that day as she'd watched the scene unfold before her. She'd known what to do long before she had figured it out. And the instant Elliot had cocked his barrel and sought her focus; she'd known that he too had acted on impulse.

And then he'd fallen to his knees and she could have sworn she'd seen his fingers tremble, long, thick digits shaking, suffering body and spirit.

In that moment, he hadn't been able to look her in the eye. In that moment she had known that Elliot Stabler had taken a life.

Olivia shook her head to clear the debris that had culminated, but the moment got the better of her as the past caught up with the reality of her future.

"_Don't touch her, I won't say it again. Take your hands away from her neck or I'll shoot."_

_Olivia closed her eyes, the voice of her boyfriend frightening her, he had always been honest. The brutal impact of naked truth shook her to the very core. She'd only just managed to shake the demons that haunted her mother, she was free, only to face certain death._

_The man behind her drew his arm up around the back of her neck and she could feel the breath leaving her body and she was sure of one thing. She was sure that her end had come._

"_Olivia, look at me, come on baby, look at me," Her boyfriend pleaded._

_The choke hold tightened and Olivia gasped, faced with the state of unconsciousness._

"_Just give me ya watch," The offender snarled. "Give me ya watch and all ya money and the girl is good."_

_The tall man shook his head, his eyes focused solely upon the woman held within the heathen's grasp. His body shook as the anger escalated. He knew that for every sixty seconds that he smouldered, he was losing precious time._

"_Help …" Olivia managed. "Help me, please," She choked._

_His fingers stoked the piece that sat concealed within his denim pocket, his fingers quivered with anticipation. Nobody would harm his girl, nobody would harm his child._

_The shot came so quickly that it barely made a sound, straight past her body and into the one who had threatened to revoke her liberties._

_Her hands cupped her belly and her eyes grew round as she stepped away from the fallen casualty. Could she honestly consider the man a victim? Could she feel sorry for this human who had tried to smother the life from her veins? Who felt that she was not worthy of the air she drew?_

"_Liv, Olivia, are you alright? Look at me, let me look at you, Baby."_

_Strong hands caressed her skin and extinguished the anguish while thick fingers erased the evidence of her tears._

"_I'm sorry. I should have shot him sooner."_

_His breath was warm against her neck as he cradled her head against his chest; the beat of his heart was gentle, pure, like the whispers of the world._

"_I'm okay, we're okay," She assured him, her throat raw, burning. She swallowed thickly._

"_I froze," He admitted. I saw you there and I froze for a minute thinking that he might kill you and take our baby."_

_And then he spoke the words that would haunt her for the rest of her life. _

"_I can't keep doing this, Olivia. I can't keep looking over my shoulder making sure that you're okay, because one day I'll be faced with the possibility that you won't be and it scares me. I can't lose you. I can't lose you, Liv."_

"Olivia?"

Olivia tilted her face towards her Captain and she tried to concentrate her mind on the present moment.

"Yeah."

"I know this must be hard for you. You and Elliot, we've never had a team work quite so well before. He's been at your side longer than John's last marriage."

"We've been through a lot together, Cap."

Olivia closed her eyes, the dream still resting just above the surface of her subconscious. She'd paid the price once before in her life, she'd only had one chance to do all of the things she had ever wanted to do.

People like Elliot Stabler were the reason her son would never be able to know his father.

"He asked after you, once a partner and all that bullshit. What will I tell him, Olivia?"

"He's at home now, he's got Kathy by his side, and he can visit Maureen on weekends. He doesn't need a recap of my life. He doesn't get to watch my back anymore," Olivia lamented, swallowing back the tears as painfully as she had twenty five years ago.

"Elliot won't accept that as my final answer,"Cragen argued. "He's going to want a little more."

Olivia turned her gaze towards the desk, pushed up her sleeves and shrugged her shoulders.

"Just tell him that I have Dominic. I'll be fine."

He accepted her answer knowing that she was barely keeping herself together. The foundations of her heart had crumbled and Olivia was struggling to hold it up.

"I'll come up with something."

Just like he had every other time they'd had a problem.

Olivia nodded, lost for words and Don replied in kind.

"Do you want to go home and see Dom?"

"No," Olivia waved him off; adjusting her belt as she stood from the chair in her superior's office. "Job goes on."

He watched her leave and dialled the number just as soon as his hand could reach for the handset.

Dominic found his mother hunched over the cold metal seat in the interrogation room when he arrived. Her shoulders shook with such force he had never witnessed.

"You can't fake with me, Ma," He spoke, his voice quiet, sympathetic, the unmistakable force of his father carried across her senses.

"Never could, Baby."

Olivia rose from her position and gazed at the man in front of her. Such a force to be reckoned with, a brave face, humble and gentle, a man of him own works.

"You and El have been together a long time, Ma. It's okay to cry."

Dominic opened his arms and embraced his mother.

"When did you get to be so smart?" She asked.

"I've always been smart. I get that from you," He spoke proudly.

Olivia chuckled and Dom closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of his mother, his mentor, his life.

_I know things that would blow your mind, Ma. _He thought to himself.


	2. Chapter 1

**I don't own them.**

* * *

><p>Dominic Benson, raised by his single mother, brought up the rear of the duo as he juggled an armful of paper bags filled with groceries from the corner store and brightly coloured boiled candy to indulge his mother's troublesome, but rather selective sweet tooth.<p>

His brown eyes twinkled with the hazy, late afternoon glare, but his mother knew that when she looked at him from just the right angle, if she concentrated hard enough, the steely grey gaze that his father bore was always there, lying dormant just beneath the surface.

"You need to eat more," Olivia mumbled as she juggled her own bag and jammed her key into the lock of her apartment door. "There's nothing of you. What does your girlfriend feed you?"

"Jesus, Ma. Can you let it go? Caroline feeds me, okay?"

"I worry about you, Honey." Olivia inhaled sharply. "You're all I've got and I have to look out for you. It's what a mother does best."

He knew of his mother's past, the relationship, or lack thereof she often held with her own drunken mother. He knew that secretly, she'd tried to harbor the guilt that she associated with Dominic and the lack of paternal input he had gained growing up around the streets of Manhattan. She directed that anger at herself, more often than not and here she was, blaming herself again.

"Ma, I know you don't want to talk about Elliot, but you have to accept the fact that he's not coming back. It's going to be hard to adjust; you'll have to take on a new partner and …"

"No," Olivia cut him off abruptly with a swift lash of her tongue.

"Ma …"

"I said no, Dominic."

Olivia exhaled and crossed the threshold into her modest studio apartment. She placed her bag on the breakfast bar and used her free hand to rub somewhat soothing circles across her aching temple.

"Let me get some Tylenol for you," Dom spoke as he came up beside her. A look of concern passed his handsome features and he furrowed his brow trying to gain some sort of insight as to the trajectory of her current mind set.

"No," Olivia waved him off as she stood to her full height and composed herself accordingly.

"Ma, what's going on? You're scaring me."

"I … Ah, I've been thinking about transferring out of SVU."

Olivia's voice was gravely, her verbs wavered and her pitch raised an octave as she tried to compress the thought into a single sentence for the sake of her son.

Dominic pulled out a stool and threw his leg over the seat while he watched his mother's face cloud with doubt. She'd always been the one to make the tough decisions and he'd always been proud of her accomplishments, her achievements, but he couldn't reconcile the feeling of loathing that had settled within the heart of his belly.

"Do you remember when I asked you what you did as a cop? How old was I, eight years old?" Dominic chuckled as he remembered the moment. "I thought it was all about guns and bad guys, fat men who ate donuts who had bad attitudes and haircuts that reminded me of those terrible black and white movies you liked. Remember when you told me about Gran, about where you'd come from, your … father, so to speak? What happened to that person, Ma?"

Olivia shook her ponytail free from the tie and drew her fingers through the dark locks of hair.

"That was a long time ago, Dom. I used to think the worst thing that ever happened to me was the day that your father left. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, and I'd almost lost you several times. I was so selfish back then." Olivia scoffed. "How could Elliot do this to me?"

Dominic had never known his father. He hadn't been there when he'd entered the world, he wasn't entirely sure of his name. He knew that the man had caused his mother some heartache; he knew that he bore his resemblance. He knew that he missed father's day and Christmas with his father by his side. No present's under the tree for his daddy, just hopes that were shattered with each year that had passed them by.

But Dominic knew that Elliot Stabler was nothing like the man who had abandoned his mother. Dominic knew a lot about his mother's former partner; details that often made him cringe in thought, wondering if his mother also knew what he did.

"Elliot's not a bad guy; you can't blame him for what he did. He had to make a choice, and I think he did the right thing."

"Why are you taking his side? Why would you do that to your mother?"

Dominic shrugged but his conscience gnawed him up inside.

"I'm just saying, Elliot Stabler is nothing like my father, he's not the same man who walked away from you twenty years ago, Ma. For twelve and a half years he's been the only other positive male role in my life. I wish I had known him sooner."

Olivia's lower lip trembled and she swiped her wrist across her eyes to catch the tears that had forced themselves between her lids. She sniffed once and blinked, trying to restrain her emotion.

"I have a brother; I've done what I can for my mother. It's time for me to move on."

Dominic shook his head; there was something she wasn't telling him. He was sure he could get to the bottom of it, even if she was too pig headed to offer up the truth.

"Okay, Ma. So you're leaving the one-six. Fin will probably be glad to see the back of your sorry ass and it gives me more time to spend with Elliot, to work on my pitching game."

"Fin takes no notice of my behind. That much we've established already."

Of course, she wouldn't have been half as good as what she did if she couldn't blind side her own flesh and blood. They'd made strides in the past; he held his ground and left Olivia flailing with nowhere to run, but he knew that she had no inclination of shutting down this time. He couldn't distract her.

The sound of Dominic's ring tone filtered through the small apartment before he'd had the chance to formulate a coherent response. It seemed she also had luck on her side.

"Saved again," He mumbled before his thumb pressed the talk button on the face plate of his modest cell.

The conversation was one sided, but even with her back turned to her son, Olivia knew who the mystery caller was. The way Dom's voice hitched had assured her of everything she'd needed to know and she couldn't help the tiny smile that crept up into the corner of her lips. Elliot had a way of making her weak at the knees, even when he wasn't around.

"That was Elliot," Dominic spoke as he flipped his phone shut and turned around to face his mother.

Olivia was up on her toes, straining to reach the cabinet above the burner range hood. Her cheeks were slightly flushed and Dom shook his head, giving over to the idea that the strain was the reason his mother was so utterly flustered.

"He wanted to know if I was free this evening, asked if I'd meet him down at the cages in Queens."

Olivia nodded. She was pleased that her son had such a strong role model, even if he was the same man who had broken her heart and left her hanging over the past few weeks. There was no reason for her to be brazen enough to demand Dom stop hanging out with Elliot.

"Go, you two have a good time. I have laundry to do here."

"Ma …"

Olivia laughed. The concept of 'mother' had never seemed as far away as it did in that moment. She'd carried her son, he'd been born and he'd grown up and at some point in her life, she'd known that she would lose him to the outside world, like the seasons pass, she had resigned herself to that very fact.

"Go and hang out with Elliot, he could probably do with the company. Just be sure to wear a sweater," She told the young man, still a child in her shining eyes.

"It's not cold out …"

"I don't care," His mother echoed.

Dominic raised his hands in protest.

"Okay, you win. I'll bring a sweater."

Olivia smiled again. By the good grace of God, he'd always manage to conjure a smile.

Dominic kissed his mother's cheek and gave her one last sideward glance before he closed the wooden door behind him, his heavy footsteps echoing as he descended the spiral staircase.

Her baby really was all grown up, and even Olivia had to admit that she hadn't done half as bad as she'd hoped.

* * *

><p>Elliot sat on the bench by the diamond, his elbows resting upon his thighs, his head held in his hands as he scratched at the dirt beneath his feet with a ratty old sneaker. His prized glove sat beside him and he sighed deeply, inhaling the scent of the evening air.<p>

"Don't look so pleased to see me," Dominic spoke as he strode up to the bench where Elliot sat uncomfortably.

Elliot turned his face up, his eyes scanning the boy for a moment before he beamed; his face lighting up as he stifled a chuckle.

"Your mom tell you to bring a sweater or something?" He asked before he pointed to the sweatshirt loosely tied around the young man's slim waist.

Dominic rolled his eyes and kicked a dirty looking bottle cap towards Elliot as he stood beside the forlorn looking figure.

"You're one to talk. My mother was always telling you what to do."

Elliot dropped his hands and lifted his head to look Dominic straight in the eyes. The honesty between them, nothing else but expected, the foundation for their loyalty, their friendship built from love and integrity, the pride of a man and his so called surrogate son.

"How is she, Dom? How is Olivia?"

Dominic thought for a moment, trying to find the right words, collecting the thoughts that accumulated faster than he could dictate. He had to choose with care, his words could wound, they weren't easy to hear.

"Did you know that my mother can cry? All of these years she's been on the force and I never once saw my mother so much as shed a tear. I don't know what to do with her, Elliot. You've left this Elliot shaped depression and I'm buggered if I know what to do about it."

"That bad, huh?"

Dominic noticed that Elliot rarely looked as perplexed as he did when he spoke about Olivia. He wondered if Elliot was as frightened as his mother was, unsure of his future, stuck on the shelf like the little clay jar Dom had made in the eighth grade. His mother had kept it all of these years; she must have known it would be good for something.

"You're her best friend, Elliot. It's going to be hard for her to adjust. You had her back all those years, now she's on her own, and I know she won't admit it, but she'd terrified."

Elliot swallowed thickly. He wondered if he'd made a mistake, he didn't like to make the same mistake twice. He wanted to regroup and learn from his negligence, but not if it cost him Olivia. He refused to cross that line, their co-dependence was obligational, a mutual interest that served his own selfish needs. He couldn't walk away from her, from Dom, he'd taken the boy in, treated him as his son.

"You have to fix this, Elliot. Normally I wouldn't ask, but I know that you love her just as much as she loves you."

Elliot froze, his limbs felt heavy and his throat dropped into his belly. There was a knot in his gut and he fought the urge to purge his stomach, he could taste the bitter sense of bile in his mouth already.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Elliot. I know that you and Kathy separated years ago. I know that you sleep on the couch and I know that Kathy has been seeing another man. I know that my mother gets the same far off look in her eye as you do. I know you need to fix this," Dom finished, holding out his hand so that he could help Elliot up of the old timber stall.

Elliot stood, fixing his t-shirt where it had shifted as he sat hunched over and picking up his catcher's mitt before he slapped Dominic on the back in a friendly gesture of affection for the young man.

"Maureen told you?"

"Yeah," Dominic blushed. The mention of Elliot's daughter always seemed to make him nervous.

"Okay." Was all that Elliot would say "Well, just remember, the curve is an illusion, it's all about keeping your eye on the ball. Don't let it get away from you and everything else will fall into place."

Dominic was clever enough to read between the lines. Elliot had always used baseball as a euphemism, for as long as he could remember. Elliot had referred to his first kiss as 'first base' and Dominic had been too terrified to tell him about the fact that he had used his tongue. His first 'home run' and Elliot had treated him to beer on the back porch. The two had reminisced, Elliot of his first love and Dominic, his first time.

"Are you crushing on my mom? Cause those kinds of details you 're more than welcome to keep to yourself."

"And miss out on the priceless look you get when I mention the word sex? I doubt it."

Elliot watched Dominic shrug off his sweat shirt and shake his arms as he started on a few jumping jacks to warm up his body for the rigorous work out Elliot would make him sweat out. He smiled to himself, he was as proud as he could possibly be. Olivia had done a good job and he envied her, the woman he loved.

_Okay, okay. We'll try again. If you can't pitch and catch, you can't play hardball," Elliot explained to the lanky fourteen year old as he stood against the high school bleachers._

"_Elliot, do we have to? Everyone's watching. It's not cool when I don't know what to do," Dominic exclaimed._

_Elliot stood from his crouch and walked over to the young boy. His legs were shaking and he rubbed his eyes profusely, something he had no doubt inherited from his father._

"_You want to be good at this, don't you?"_

_Dominic nodded. _

"_If you want Janey Carlton to think you're a jock? Then you have to practice."_

_Dominic shook his head and threw his glove down on the ground before he turned his back and walked away from Elliot._

"_I'm sorry, El," Olivia spoke as she approached her partner. "He's at that age."_

_Elliot sighed. _

"_Girls are really different to boys. I wish Maureen wanted to learn how to toss a ball with her dad."_

_Olivia smiled. Elliot noticed that her eyes were bright as she placed her hand upon his arm._

"_I can't believe I'm about to admit this, but Dominic needs you just as much as Maureen does. He needs you to guide him, El."_

_Elliot tried not to choke on the words that were lodged in his throat, the words that he had been holding onto since the day that she had walked into his life._

"_Thank you, Liv. He's the best thing that ever happened to me."_


	3. Chapter 2

**I don't own them.**

* * *

><p>After she had exited the taxi, Olivia stepped up onto the sidewalk and shivered, her body wracked by the onslaught of the impending winter chill. She pulled her scarf up over her chin and burrowed deep down into the woolen fabric, trying to savor the warmth that the stole could provide.<p>

In one hand she carried a cardboard tray, an assortment of cups that bore the quintessential Starbucks banner stood out against the pale sweater that clothed her lean form. Her hair was tied back neatly, but she brushed aside the few strands of fringe that had unraveled from her ponytail with the force of the evening breeze.

Olivia inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, trying to calm her emotions, she knew Elliot better than this, better than to have assumed that he would still avoid her, better than the bitter thought that reminded her that he would only leave her again.

Her son was the first to notice Olivia as she approached the line of batting cages that framed the local diamond. This had always been Dom's favorite place as a teen, the amount of time he had spent here with Elliot on a Saturday morning …

Olivia refused to allow herself the remainder of the broken dream, chiding herself for entertaining such a belligerent fantasy. As she shook herself from her revere, she noticed her son striding towards her, his long legs made short work of the space between them, and she smiled as he gave a small wave and leaned down to kiss her cheek.

"Hi, Mom," Dom spoke with a hoarse voice as he struggled to catch his breath. "What are you doing here?"

Olivia shrugged and help up her offering, her wide smile softening as she watched her son lick his lips in anticipation.

"I thought you boys could do with some caffeine, so I stopped off for coffee."

Dom took the proffered cup and curled his fingers around the warm brew before lifting it up to his nose where he inhaled deeply, the rich aroma of arabica tickling his palate as he grinned from ear to ear. Cautiously, he took a sip, blowing away the steam that unfurled from beneath the lid, and sighed.

"Thanks, Ma. You're a genius, you know that?"

"I got one for the old man, too," She told her son, not yet ready to approach her ex partner, not yet willing to set aside her selfish ambition for the sake of her son.

"Go ahead and give it to him then, Elliot is not going to hurt you, he's El."

"I … um …" Olivia stuttered, not knowing what to do with herself. Her body language spoke volumes to her son, the tone in her voice was clipped and she moved as if intuitively choreographed, she projected the very image of uncertainty with her arms drawn in close to her body and her head low, her shoulders slumped. Dominic was not about to let her quit, Elliot meant too much to him, his mother, she was his world, and as he watched this woman in front of him, his mother, strong and brave, act like a school girl, he knew that he would have to take their revival upon his shoulders, he would be the one to save them.

Dom threw his head back over his shoulder and yelled at Elliot who was leaving the relative safety of the steel batting cage.

"Hey, Elliot, Mom brought coffee. Come and get it."

Elliot's brow furrowed and he looked at the two, at the picture they made together, mother and son. He was genuinely surprised with Olivia's actions. Elliot knew that he owed her an explanation, something better than _sorry; _he needed to offer her the world.

Wiping his face on the sleeve of his shirt, Elliot made quick work of the space between them, hasty steps ensuring that he arrived at his intended destination. The atmosphere was awkward; though he did not want to draw attention to the fact. He felt like he was on uneven ground, his breath came in short bursts and his lungs ached as he exhaled. He needed to ease himself back into her life. He felt out of place. Olivia had her family now, one that he could not claim.

"Hi, Liv," He said simply.

"Hi."

Dominic watched the two interact and shook his head. He had hoped for something a little more substantial, for Christ sake, this was his mother and … and Elliot. The gesture had been simple, coffee, hardly a metaphor for love, more likely an escape from loneliness. He knew that his mother felt unloved, devoid of all that she held close, yet despite the open space, the air that so readily perished between them; she had always known what the other side of the coin was like. Elliot rarely flipped tails.

"You good, Liv?" Elliot asked as he moved the coffee to his lips and sipped.

Olivia stood, fixed, and watched as his tongue began to trace the line of his plump lips, as he savored every last little trace of the rich, bittersweet sustenance, like basic human need. And without warning, that vision gave way to the memory of a bitter past.

"_You look like a rabbit," Olivia spoke to the young man beside her as he twitched his face. Pale, frothy cappuccino foam clung to his upper lip like a mustache and it tickled his nose each time he swallowed another mouthful._

"_You're just jealous," He chuckled beneath hooded lashes. "Because you're pregnant and you can't have coffee."_

_Olivia rolled her eyes and patted the swollen bump between them._

"_It's bad enough that he or she will probably have your brains, my sacrifice is a necessity. Besides," She spoke as she placed her head around his neck and drew his face closer to hers. "Nobody said that I couldn't taste you, and you just happen to taste like coffee right now."_

_Their lips met and the young man's arm tightened around the bulk of her waist as he held his girl, his child as close as her body would allow._

_As their tongues dueled for dominance, fueled by their passion, Olivia drew back and took a deep breath, her lungs gasping for air, and she looked up into the eyes of her lover._

_He smirked, a cocky grin that made him look smug._

"_I got to say, Liv. I'm wounded. I really though you loved me, now I know the truth. You're just using me for your caffeine hit."_

"_Smart ass," She quipped, smacking his bicep and making him pout. "You take that back."_

"_Okay, okay," He surrendered. "You know that I love you, Baby and baby," He nodded towards the expanse of her belly. "I know that you love us both just as much as I love the two of you, Liv."_

"Mom? Mom," Dominic tried to shake her from her reverie.

Elliot held his coffee and furrowed his brow, he looked troubled as he watched Olivia's demeanor shift. He knew that she was musing, that she was caught up in her daydreams and lost in thought, and he wondered what she was thinking about, the reason for her melancholy state of mind. He swallowed thickly, not willing to let himself follow to tread the same path of self loathing and destruction.

"Liv," He spoke quietly, "Liv, Dom is worried about you."

"I'm fine," She snapped back. "It's none of your business, Elliot."

"Okay, okay," He held up his hand and backed away, allowing Dominic the opportunity to deal with his mother and her plethora of demons.

"Mom, are you alright?" Dom inquired as he gripped her arm tightly, like a frightened child, too afraid to let go.

"I'm fine, baby. I'm fine. It's been a long day, I think I need to get some rest."

"I can drive you home, I'm sure Elliot won't mind, do you El?" He turned to Elliot, silently asking the question, his head tilted to one side as he waited for confirmation.

"No," Olivia waved him off. "You know what, I'm actually just going to get a cab, I might get off a few streets away and take a walk. The fresh air will do me good."

"Liv," Elliot's tone was clipped as he spoke, and Dominic knew that it served as a warning, he knew that his mother quite clearly understood.

"Do you think life is that simple, Elliot? Do you think that you can just waltz back into my life after everything that has happened and tear me apart with your smooth talking words? Because we are not reenacting the bible, I am not your God, and as far as I am concerned, you do not deserve my forgiveness."

Dom was shocked by the ferocity of his mother's conviction. His mother could speak her mind at the best of times, but she had always taught him to practice restraint, assuring him that nothing good could ever come from taking a hard line. Sometimes honest wasn't always the best policy, she'd been a cop for as long as he could remember, she knew what he was talking about, and he had no reason not to believe her.

Olivia straightened her collar and adjusted her scarf and turned to her son.

"If you want to come home when you're done, I'll see you then."

He stood up on tip-toes and arched her back, placing a lone kiss on the surface of her first born son's cheek before she turned on her heels. Dominic and Elliot watched as she hailed a cab, and just as quickly as she had arrived, she was once again out of their sight.

"I thought she was over the PTSD," Dominic spoke absently, spitting out the four harsh consonants that left a bad taste in his mouth.

Elliot shook his head.

"Your mom has been through a hell of a lot. It's not the first time she's had to watch somebody die before her eyes, or," Elliot swallowed thickly, "Or because if they hadn't, she would have."

"You're talking about my father," Dominic whispered, his voice clouded with emotion as he balled his fists by his side and tried to will the pain away, as far away as he possibly could.

"Yeah, I am."

At least, Dominic observed, Elliot had the decency to look torn by his words. At least he had actually acknowledged the fact that Dom had built himself up before his words had torn the walls down around him.

"I can forgive, Elliot. I'm not my mother. But I understand why this is so hard on her. She's a good person, my mother is a good person, Elliot, and I hate seeing her like this."

Elliot had been trained in the art of warfare; he knew how to kill a man with his bare hand if there was ever a need, he had seen bodies before, men, women, and children. He closed his eyes. It was always the children, the innocence, that hurt the most.

"Please, Elliot," Dom implored, folding his arms across his chest as a comfort, either to himself or for his mother, he wasn't entirely sure. "You have to talk to her; you're the only one who can make this better. We both know that."

"What if she doesn't want to listen to me, Dom? I've hurt Olivia too much. I can't be the one to break her."

Dominic shook his head in defiance and tried not to laugh at the irony that laced his friends' words.

"She's already broken. She has nothing left to live for."

With his head bowed and his heart broken, his pain locked like a smoking barrel, Elliot rocked upon the balls of his feet. Olivia's tenderness had been shattered, fragile, like glass that could not be salvaged. The most pitiful fracture had rendered it useless, vulnerable, and nothing else mattered.

"Okay, I'll talk to her," He sighed, dejected and defeated, Olivia had endured enough.

"I think it's time we told her." Dominic looked at the man with the deep blue eyes, the eyes that haunted his mother every time she looked at him.

Elliot simply nodded, mutely, unable to express his emotion. The feelings that he had suppressed for so long were finally catching up with him, they gnawed at him like a ravenous fiend.

"Okay," Elliot agreed, and then closed his eyes.

This wasn't going to be pretty. He was going to need Dominic.


End file.
